Red Like Roses
by VibeQuake
Summary: Five years after the O.W.C.A. Incident, everyone has moved on with their lives. All the people who were left behind by Perry have built new lives for themselves, with many new arrivals in the families. But when a kidnapping sparks a chain of events that puts the lives of his family in danger, can Perry bring himself to return to the life he left behind? Sequel to Love Story.
1. Chapter 1

Victor the Otter hated waiting. He was pacing up and down the living room, hands behind his back, shoulders slumped. Part of him marvelled that he was able to pace at all, considering he hadn't fastened his leg braces properly. But most of him was terribly worried about his mate, Christina, who was giving birth in her room with Paris and Naomi to help her.

Melinda the Tortoiseshell Cat—Victor's closest friend apart from Christina—smiled sympathetically from her place on the couch. "Victor, sit down and rest," she urged. "I know you're worried, but pacing isn't going to help." She paused. "Especially since your leg braces aren't fastened properly. Come here."

Victor reluctantly edged closer to Melinda, allowing the cat to adjust his leg braces. These things had been a large burden ever since he got them, but at the same time, they allowed him to walk, something he thought he'd never be able to do again.

"There we go," Melinda said, retracting her paws. "Better?"

"Yeah," Victor replied truthfully. "Thanks."

Melinda smiled. "No problem. Have you thought about names for your kids yet?"

Victor nodded, sitting down next to Melinda on the couch. "We have lots of names. We don't know how many she's going to have."

"How many do bobcats normally have?" asked Melinda.

Victor thought for a minute. "One to six," he replied eventually. "I'm hoping we won't have six. That would be too many. But at the same time, one seems too few."

At that moment, Naomi burst through the door excitedly. "One's come! One's come!" she cried.

Victor shot to his feet, then immediately regretted it. "What is it?!" he demanded.

"A girl," Naomi beamed. "You have a girl!"

Victor's mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. Naomi disappeared back upstairs, and returned a few seconds later, shouting, "A BOY! A BOY!"

"Another one?!" Victor gasped. "A girl and a boy? Twins?"

"She's not done yet," grinned Naomi, rushing back upstairs.

Victor gaped at Melinda. "T-Twins!"

"There could still be more," Melinda smirked.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard Naomi holler, "ANOTHER GIRL!" from upstairs.

Victor almost passed out. Melinda leapt up and grabbed the otter as he collapsed sideways. "Victor! Hey, stay with me, okay?"

Then Paris came down the stairs, smiling. "Victor, you can go up."

"Is Chris okay?" Victor croaked.

Paris nodded warmly. "Mother and kids are doing well."

Victor let go of Melinda and made his way up the stairs. Hesitating outside the door, he inhaled. _Here we go._

He opened the door, and was immediately struck by an ache in his heart. On their bed lay Christina, awake and smiling down at three tiny babies who were suckling from her. Two of them were bobcats, and one an otter. Victor felt his breath catch in his throat as he moved closer. Christina looked up as he approached and beamed. She looked tired but triumphant. "I did it," she breathed. "I-I survived."

"I knew you were strong enough," Victor whispered. "Th-they're beautiful. Which one's the boy?"

Christina pointed to one of the bobcats; this one looking darker skinned than the other. "This one is going to have brown fur," she whispered. "The other will have silver. As will the otter." She glanced up at Victor. "I have already named the otter, if that is okay."

Victor nodded quickly. "Of course. What's her name?"

"Nellie," smiled Christina, gently stroking the baby otter. "Her name is Nellie."

"Then why don't we call the female bobcat Maya?" Victor suggested. "You said you liked the name."

"You wanted the name Jordan, didn't you?"

"Well, Jordan's a boy's name, right?" Victor smiled and gently stroked his only son. "So how about we call him Jordan?"

"Maya, Jordan, and Nellie." Christina's eyes welled with tears. "It's…they're beautiful."

"Which one's the oldest?" Victor asked, dangerously close to crying, himself.

"Maya," replied Christina. "Then Jordan, then Nellie."

Victor smiled wistfully. "I wish Perry was here to see this."

Christina bowed her head. "How long has it been since he left?"

Victor's shoulders hunched. "Five years."

"Wow…" Christina inhaled. "It's hard to believe that we've been trying to have kids for five years."

"Technically we've only been trying for three years," grinned Victor. "The first year was us spending time together as mates, and the second year was finding out if it was even possible for us to have kids."

"I'm so glad it was possible," Christina breathed. "I wouldn't have been able to bear it if we didn't have any kids at all."

Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," called Victor.

Naomi poked her head round the door. "The girls want to know if they can see the new babies."

"Soon," Christina called softly. "The triplets and I need to rest now. Why don't you take the girls home? We'll be fine here."

Naomi hesitated. "You sure?"

Christina nodded. "Thank you, Naomi."

Naomi smiled. "No problem." She retracted her head and was gone.

Victor looked back at his three gorgeous children, and his beautiful mate. He sat down on the bed and lay next to Christina, smiling. He rested his head on her shoulder, gazing down at their children.

Life had never been better.


	2. Chapter 2

Naomi headed downstairs and found her triplet girls in the kitchen. All three of them were teal platypuses, having all come from the same egg. The way she could tell them apart was their eyes: Zelda (the eldest) had silver eyes, Tegan (the middle child) had hazel eyes, and Astrid (the youngest) had green eyes.

"Girls, we're heading home now," Naomi announced.

Zelda dutifully got down off the counter and began walking towards her mother. Astrid launched herself off the fridge. Luckily, Naomi's amazing reflexes kicked in just in time, and she caught her youngest daughter. Tegan, on the other hand, didn't move. She was lying on her stomach on the marble counter next to the sink. She gave her mother a smirk.

"Tegan, honey, we're going home now," Naomi said.

Tegan just turned onto her side, facing away from Naomi.

Zelda huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Tegan, come down here now!"

Tegan stood up on the counter and grinned. "Make me, shortie."

Zelda growled and stomped her foot. "Tegan! Stop being so difficult!"

"Shortie, shortie, shortie," Tegan teased, tapping her feet on the counter.

"Tegan, sweetie, we're leaving," Naomi said, more firmly. "Come down, please."

Zelda scowled and clicked her fingers. "Tegan, down. Now."

Tegan leapt off the counter and clenched her fists at her older sister. "Don't treat me like a dog, Zelda!" she snapped.

Naomi quickly took advantage and grabbed Tegan's hand. Astrid took her mother's other hand and looked over at Tegan, who stuck her tongue out back. Waving goodbye to Melinda and Paris, Naomi left the house, holding the hands of two of her children. Zelda trailed behind, acting as if she was years older than her siblings instead of seconds.

"Mommy, can I have ice cream?" Astrid asked shyly. "I was good."

"Yes, Astrid," Naomi smiled. "You can have ice cream."

"I think I deserve ice cream too, Mom," Zelda butted in.

"And me!" piped up Tegan.

"Astrid didn't cause any fuss when I said it was time to go home," Naomi said sternly to her other two kids.

"I came straight away!" Zelda complained.

"It's not my fault!" complained Tegan at the same time.

"At any rate, none of you are getting ice cream when you get home, because it's past midnight," Naomi told her kids. "You should be in bed."

All three girls groaned, but immediately after, they all yawned. Naomi smirked. "You're all tired."

Astrid's head knocked against Naomi's legs as she almost fell asleep standing up. Smiling, Naomi gently lifted her youngest daughter into her arms. Despite Astrid being five years old—the equivalent of a ten-year-old human—she nuzzled into her mother's fur and closed her eyes, letting out a soft hum of contentment. "Love you, Mommy," she mumbled sleepily.

In the time it took for Naomi to smile and say "I love you too, Astrid.", the little platypus had fallen asleep.

Naomi beamed and stroked her youngest daughter.

"What a baby," snorted Tegan. "She still says "mommy"."

Zelda shoved Tegan. "Stop bullying Astrid, Tegan. She doesn't deserve it."

"We're all the same age, and yet she still says "mommy"." Tegan smirked.

Naomi turned and smirked back, to Tegan's surprise. "She can call me what she wants, Tegan. Just know that at the moment, Astrid's getting your ice cream as well as hers."

"What?!"

Naomi turned back and grinned, having gotten exactly the reaction she had been hoping for.

She often felt a little depressed about the relationship her girls had with each other. Zelda bossed the other two around, Tegan bullied Astrid, Zelda and Tegan often got into physical fights, and Astrid barely talked to her siblings because of her shyness. It was sad, really.

As Naomi approached her house, she gave the key to Zelda, who ran on ahead to open the door. Tegan ran after her, shouting at her as usual. Naomi gently put Astrid down on her feet, sending the tired platypus to join her siblings.

Just as Naomi was about to join them, she felt something grab her from behind. She screamed and tried to kick, but something was injected into her neck, and she collapsed, limp.

"MOMMY!" Astrid screamed, alerting her siblings to what had happened.

"Mom!" yelled Zelda, dropping the key and racing towards her mother, but the attacker kicked the gate shut, causing Zelda to fall backwards onto her siblings.

By the time they all scrambled to their feet, their mother was gone.

Astrid burst into tears. Tegan also looked ready to cry, though she was also clenching her fists. Wordlessly, Zelda grabbed her sisters' wrists and dragged them into the house, shutting and locking the door behind them.

"We have to go after Mom!" Tegan cried over the sound of Astrid's sobbing.

"It's pitch black!" snapped Zelda. "We'd get lost!"

"We have to do something!"

"We can't right now!"

"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE HER!" screamed Tegan, almost ready to strike her sister if need be.

"YES WE CAN!" Zelda shrieked back. "I'M JUST AS DISTRAUGHT AT THIS AS YOU ARE, BUT WE HAVE TO BE CALM AND RATIONAL!"

Tegan calmed down a little, shrinking against the wall. "What do we do?" she whimpered.

Zelda realised that, for once, her younger sister was actually looking to her for guidance. She straightened up grimly. "We have to inform O.W.C.A. so they can do something. I'll tell Paris."

"What can I do?" Tegan asked bravely.

Zelda smiled. "Put Astrid to bed."

Tegan nodded and lifted their sister off the floor. Astrid suddenly shied away from Tegan. "I can put myself to bed," she sniffled coldly.

As Astrid walked upstairs, Tegan hesitated. "She heard me earlier, didn't she?"

"It's not just today, Te," Zelda sighed. "You've been barely anything but mean to her for years."

Tegan also sighed. "I…I know."

Zelda raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment further. "I'm going to phone this in to O.W.C.A. You should get some rest too."

Tegan nodded slowly. "Okay. Are you coming up soon?"

"As soon as I phone this in," Zelda replied. "Go on up."

Tegan nodded again and slowly made her way upstairs.

Zelda gritted her teeth and reached for the phone.

Whoever did this to their mother would pay.


	3. Chapter 3

Victor came downstairs, beaming. He really couldn't believe that he was now a father to three beautiful kids. Maya, Jordan, Nellie. It really was a miracle.

Heading into the living room, he spotted Melinda at the door. She smiled at Victor. "I'm just off," she said. "I need to get home before my brother goes to bed."

Victor nodded. "That's fine. Thank you for helping, Mel."

Melinda beamed. "No problem. I'll have to see Chris and the kids some other time, though."

"That's fine. Have a safe trip home."

"I will." Melinda left the house, closing the door behind her.

Now Paris was the only one left in the living room. She was curled up on the sofa, asleep. Victor grinned and gently shook her. "Paris, time to go."

Paris groaned and stirred. She opened her eyes, focusing on Victor. "Oh, sure. I didn't mean to fall asleep," she mumbled sleepily, yawning.

"You can stay here if you want."

Paris yawned again, shaking her head. "Nah, I'm going. Thanks for having me."

"Thank YOU," Victor said back. "For helping Chris."

Paris smiled and got off the sofa. "It's okay. I'm glad she's okay. See you."

"Bye," Victor called, watching Paris leave the house.

He went and locked the door, then went upstairs to see Christina, who was asleep on the bed, with all three of their kids lying next to her. Beaming, Victor gently moved the babies to their cradle, which was just next to the bed. Christina stirred as he was carrying the last baby.

"Victor?" she mumbled sleepily.

Victor smiled. "Hey, Chris. I was just putting the kids to bed. Do you need anything?"

Christina took a few seconds to think. "A hot drink would be great, if you're offering."

"Of course. Hot chocolate? Coffee?"

"Definitely not coffee," chuckled Christina. "Hot chocolate would be great, thanks."

Victor kissed her forehead, then went downstairs to the kitchen. As he did, he heard a pounding at the front door. Confused as to who it was at this time, he cautiously opened it. Standing there was a bright yellow rabbit, clearly female. She wore a soft lilac dress that came down to her knees, which was unusual for an animal. She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Hello. Are you Victor?"

Victor hesitated. "Yes," he replied slowly. "Who are you?"

"My name is Donna," replied the rabbit. "I need you to come with me."

"Why?" demanded Victor.

Donna heaved a sigh. "Let me be clearer." She brought out a ray gun and aimed it at Victor. "You're coming with me."

Victor's heart stood still. "Wh-who ARE you?!"

"I think you might know my mate Dennis," grinned Donna.

Victor inhaled sharply. He had never met Dennis the Rabbit personally, but he—along with all of O.W.C.A.—had heard the story of the rabbit agent who had gone rogue. He had done some terrible stuff.

"Why do you want me?" Victor demanded. "Why me?"

Donna sighed again. "See, my mate hates Perry the Platypus. Dennis wants to hurt him."

Victor felt his heart wrench at his best friend's name. "Well, you're out of luck. Perry's in Australia. Has been for the last five years."

Donna grinned evilly, causing Victor to take a step back. "There's more than one way to bring a platypus back from Australia. We already have one person he cares about."

Victor stared at her. "Wh-what?! Who?"

Instead of answering the question, Donna said, "You're coming with me."

Victor glared and stepped further back into the safety of his house. "If you want me so badly, why haven't you just taken me? With your scary little ray gun?"

Donna hesitated, uncertainty showing in her eyes for the first time. This allowed Victor to realise.

"You can't," he stated. "You can't just take me, can you?"

Donna growled annoyedly. "No," she spat. "I can't. Not without O.W.C.A. breathing down my neck."

"Then how'd you snatch the other person you say you got?"

"NOTHING!" Donna screeched, jabbing her gun at Victor. "You're coming with me!"

"No I'm not!" Victor slammed the door shut and locked it again, pressing against it in case she decided to break the door down.

However, all she did was sing through the door, "You can't hide in there forever. Especially not without a phone."

His heart freezing, Victor raced to the phone and picked it up, hurriedly dialling Paris's number. But just as it started ringing, it was cut off.

"No, no, no!" Victor cried. He stared out the window and saw that Donna had just cut the phone lines outside their house.

After drawing the curtains around every downstairs window, Victor raced upstairs and did the same up there. As he entered his and Christina's room, the bobcat looked up from the bed. "V-Victor, I heard shouting. Is everything okay?"

Victor quickly filled Christina in on the situation. "We have no phone," he said quietly. "No way of contacting O.W.C.A., since she's also cut the power to our handhelds. Somehow," he added, sighing. "It looks like we've got no choice but to stay in here. At least we still have-."

Before he could finish, the lights flickered off.

"-electricity," finished Victor, sighing. "Great. I think there are some candles somewhere. Hold on."

He went to the door.

"Victor…!"

He turned.

Christina glanced across at the three babies, sleeping peacefully in their cradle. "We have to protect them," she whispered. "Even with our lives."

"Agreed," Victor said solemnly. "As long as I live, they will not be harmed."

With that, he left the room. As he searched for the candles, he couldn't help the feeling of terror spreading over his entire body.

This was a siege. While food may last, morale wouldn't. How could Victor protect his newborns AND his mate?


	4. Chapter 4

Paris headed home. She nearly fell asleep on the journey, WHILE walking, but she managed it.

She really missed her twin brother. Perry had left five years ago, and it still hurt to this day. As did the loss of Pinky and Tess.

 _Speaking of which…_

Paris took a short detour as she neared her house, into the cemetery. She had a torch, so she was able to look at the graves in the dark. A sharp sting of pain stabbed her heart as she gazed down at Pinky's and Tess's graves.

The fifth anniversary of their deaths had been excruciatingly painful for everyone, especially Victor and Christina. But the worst part had been when Victor had a long, emotional rant about how Perry should be there, and how he abandoned them. Thinking about that moment still brought tears to Paris's eyes.

Leaving the cemetery, she happened to pass Naomi's house. Sighing, she forced herself to not look at it. It was painful, watching her girls grow up with a different mother; more painful than she had expected. Every time she thought about telling them who their real mother was, she forced herself not to. After all, SHE had been the one to give her egg up. She couldn't complain NOW. It wasn't fair on Naomi or the kids. But she was still as involved in the triplets' lives as possible.

 _Oh, Perry…I wish you were here. I feel all alone. Victor has Christina; Naomi has Zelda, Tegan, and Astrid; and Melinda has her siblings. I have nobody. I understand why you felt you had to leave, but…I-I wish you hadn't. You always knew how to make everything better._

She got home fairly quickly after that. As she took out her key, she suddenly heard screaming. Spinning round, she spotted a dark shape dragging a lighter shape along. As they travelled under the light of the street lamp, Paris saw that the lighter shape was a familiar pink platypus.

"Naomi?!" Paris gasped. "HEY!"

The darker shape froze. It seemed to be a male white rabbit. It looked like it had been caught in headlights; it was staring over at her, frozen. Paris took a step towards them. "What are you doing with Naomi?!" she yelled.

Paris began running towards the rabbit, who immediately took off running again, pulling the unconscious Naomi behind him. Paris sprinted after them, her heart pounding. Why would someone abduct Naomi? Did it have something to do with her past? Was it something to do with the fact that she used to be Perry the Platypus's mate? If it was the latter, the kidnapper was out of luck. Naomi didn't remember loving Perry, so she was useless on that front. But if it was the former…Paris knew that there must be a way to reactivate her programming. What if the assailant wanted to do that and make her attack people?

Paris continued to sprint, realising that they were coming up to Melinda's house. She put on a burst of speed and caught up to the rabbit just past the cat's house. But before she could stop him running, she spotted another dark shape on the roof. It was a black rabbit, who had what looked like a bow and arrow. Before she could dodge, the arrow had been fired.

Paris screamed as she felt the arrow pierce her shoulder, sending her down on her side. Through the pain, she managed to assert where the arrow was. It was just in the peak of the arc of her shoulder. It was a deep wound, but it was arguably just a flesh wound. As soon as the arrow was removed, it would heal. It wasn't life-threatening.

But even as she was inspecting this, she realised that sharp pain was spreading throughout her entire body. This was more than an ordinary arrow.

She grasped it weakly, ready to pull it out, but her strength failed her, and she sank into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

When Melinda got home, it was about one in the morning. To her surprise, her oldest littermate was still awake, sitting on the sofa with a mug of tea. She looked up as Melinda came in. "You've been a while."

"Cassie, what are you doing up?" Melinda frowned. "It's late. Is everyone else in bed?"

"Yes, Max's in bed," Cassie replied pointedly. "At least he had his littermates to tuck him in."

Knowing Cassie wasn't including Melinda herself in that, Melinda bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Cass. I meant to be home sooner."

"I'm guessing your friend gave birth, then," Cassie said. "After all that."

Melinda nodded. "Three kittens."

Cassie's hard facial expression melted a little. "Cute. Are they all healthy?"

Melinda nodded again. "Yeah they are."

"Good." Cassie sighed. "Mel…Max wandered off today."

"He did?" Melinda stared at her quadruplet sister. "Cass…I'm so sorry…is he okay?"

Cassie nodded slowly. "Yeah. Sadie found him. 'Course Josie and Rosie didn't do squat."

"Max isn't their litterma-."

"He's still their brother," snarled Cassie. "And they didn't even help look for him."

Melinda's shoulders slumped. Her littermate, Max, had anterograde amnesia. It had happened when the quadruplets were only four years old. Max and Sadie—the closest of the quads—had been playing in a tree, and Max had fallen out and hit his head. He often forgot where he was and he often forgot the fact that he wasn't supposed to leave the house alone, or he would get lost, which was apparently what had happened today. He tried hard to remember things, but he just couldn't. And nobody could do anything about it, which was even worse.

"Who's here?" Melinda asked.

"April, Henry, Dylan, and Basil are out," Cassie recited. "Still scouting for a good pet shop, I think. Josie and Rosie are asleep upstairs. Same with Max. I think Sadie might still be up with him." She yawned widely. "I was just waiting for you to come home. Ready for bed?"

Seeing her sister yawn made Melinda yawn. "Yeah, I'm definitely ready for bed."

Cassie finished off her tea and left the mug there as she went upstairs. Melinda quickly put the mug in the sink before she followed. She couldn't stand leaving dirty crockery or cutlery out.

Three sets of littermates lived in this house. Each set of littermates shared a room. The eldest two—Josie and Rosie—were O.W.C.A. agents. April, Henry, Dylan, and Basil—the next oldest—were not. They were currently looking for a pet shop that could find them a home.

Melinda's littermates were also O.W.C.A. agents, with the exception of Max. Sadie was only an office agent, though, so she could bring Max into work and keep an eye on him.

Just as Melinda entered their bedroom, she heard a piercing scream from outside. Max woke up with a jerk, terrified. Sadie, who was sitting in the chair next to him, quickly began reassuring him.

Cassie ran to the window.

A few seconds later, Josie and Rosie came running into the room. "What was that?!" Rosie demanded.

Melinda took hold of Max's and Sadie's wrists, and pulled her littermates gently towards her two older sisters. "Guys, get Max and Sadie out of here," she ordered them quietly. "Go to Oscar and Ruby's place. Stay there until we call."

"Why do you two get to stay?" Josie demanded.

"Because you're the only two who can defend Max and Sadie from whatever might be out there," Melinda said pleadingly. "Please."

The two older female cats exchanged a glance, before leading their younger siblings away.

Melinda turned to Cassie. "What's out there?"

"I…I think I can see someone down there," Cassie replied, squinting out the window. "But there's no light."

"What? That's impossible. There's a street lamp right outside."

"Well, it's not on," Cassie snapped, annoyed.

Melinda rolled her eyes and raced out of the room, grabbing a torch from the kitchen drawer on her way through. She darted outside and switched on the torch. Immediately, she stifled a scream of her own.

Paris the Platypus was lying on the stone path, an arrow through her shoulder. Blood was leaking out of the wound, and she was unconscious.

"Paris!" exclaimed Melinda, dropping down beside her friend. "Oh my God…"

Paris awoke as Melinda examined her. Despite the pain she was in, she managed to choke out, "G-Got…N-Naomi…"

"What?" Melinda inhaled sharply. "Who's got Naomi?"

"R-Rabbit," croaked Paris. "Wh-white r-rabbit…"

Then her head tipped back and she passed out again.

"Cassie!" yelled Melinda. "CASSIE!"

A few seconds later, Cassie appeared in the doorway. She gasped at the sight of Paris. "What-?!"

"Get the first aid kit," Melinda called urgently. "Quickly!"

Cassie disappeared back inside. Melinda lifted Paris gently and carried her inside, lying her on the sofa with a cushion supporting her head. As she stood up, Paris's paw moved and caught hold of Melinda's wrist. "Mel," she croaked. "Get…Perry…"

"Perry?" repeated Melinda in confusion. "You said he was in Australia."

"Need…him," Paris choked. "Help…Naomi…and…m-me…"

Then, for the third time, she fell back unconscious.

Melinda hesitated. She didn't know if she would be able to go all the way to Australia, but Paris had told her to get Perry with what could well have been her last words, so she knew she had to try.

Cassie came rushing back downstairs with the first aid kid. She lay it on the coffee table and opened it, rifling through it.

"Can you handle this?" Melinda asked her. "Can you look after Paris?"

Cassie nodded.

"On your own?"

Cassie's nodding slowed down as she frowned in confusion. "Why?" she asked. "Where are you going?"

"Australia," replied Melinda. "I have to get Perry back here. He's the only one who can help."

"You've never even met him," scoffed Cassie. "How do you know he can help?"

"Because ever since I joined the friendship circle a couple of years ago, all I've heard from my friends are amazing things about Perry. Victor, Christina, Paris; they've all told me great things about him. And just now, Paris told me with what could be her last words to bring him back here. It's important that I do that, Cassie. I know he can help."

Cassie hesitated. "I…I'll stay with Paris. Go."

Melinda smiled weakly. "I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

Cassie nodded slowly. "I know, Mel. Now go."

Nodding back, Melinda gave her littermate one last smile, before running out of the house.

She had a mission.


	6. Chapter 6

Naomi woke with a start as she felt a hard slap to her face. She found herself sitting on a hard metal chair, with handcuffs securing her wrists to the arms of it. Standing right in front of her was a white rabbit. Even in the very low lighting, she could see the sneer on his face. "Hello, sleeping beauty."

Naomi coughed, weakly trying to pull her arms free. "Who are you?" she croaked.

"My name is Dennis." The rabbit smiled evilly. "Rogue O.W.C.A. agent who really hates a certain platypus."

Naomi blinked fuzzily. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"I'm not talking about you," Dennis said. "I'm talking about your mate."

"I-I don't have a mate," stammered Naomi fearfully. "I-I have three daughters but I've never had a m-mate…"

Dennis smirked. "Perry the Platypus."

"P-Perry…?"

Why did that name sound so familiar? Oh, that was right. Perry the Platypus was the one who gave Naomi the egg that contained her three daughters. Perry was the one who had provided Naomi with the family she could never have on her own.

"I don't have a mate," Naomi said, feeling dizzier by the minute. "Perry isn't my mate."

"Oh yes he is." Dennis grinned. "Or at least he WAS. You may not remember it, but once upon a time, you two loved each other. You were mates."

"Wh-What?!"

"You were created by Rodney von Roddenstein for one purpose: to be a mindless killing machine who would not question orders. You have two trigger words lodged inside your head: one to trigger your killing trance, the other to bring you out of it."

"What are you even talking about?" Naomi croaked. "I-I'm normal."

"No you're not." Dennis placed his paws on hers, causing her to flinch. "You're the least normal person here."

At that moment, the door slid open, revealing two black rabbits. One of them was holding a bow.

Dennis turned to face them. "Lysander, have you done what I asked?"

Lysander, the one with the longbow, nodded. "Yes."

Naomi stared at Lysander in terror. "Wh-Who did you shoot?"

Lysander didn't smirk or smile as he replied with, "Paris the Platypus."

"WHAT?!" Naomi pulled on her handcuffs desperately. "IS she okay?!"

Lysander didn't reply.

"Is she dead?" Dennis asked him.

Lysander slowly shook his head. "Not dead, but I used a poisoned arrow. She'll last maybe another week at most."

"Just enough time for Perry to watch his sister die." Dennis grinned evilly.

Naomi bowed her head and began crying into her lap. _Oh, Paris…_ She desperately hoped her best friend was okay. Paris didn't deserve this. Naomi really wished she could see her best friend, but…

"I hate you," she growled. "I hate you all."

Dennis ignored her and addressed the female rabbit. "Bellatrix, where's Donna?"

"At the otter's house," replied Bellatrix.

Naomi's head shot up. "Victor and Christina?"

"She's staking them out."

Dennis rolled his eyes. "Why couldn't she just take them?"

"Because she realised what you apparently haven't: if we snatch two of O.W.C.A.'s top five agents, we'll have them attacking us without mercy to get them back. Naomi here doesn't count because she's not actually an O.W.C.A. agent."

Naomi continued to cry as she realised that Bellatrix was right.

Dennis growled. "She's staking them out, you say? What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean they've locked themselves in their house and Donna's making sure she'll catch them if they try to leave," Bellatrix clarified.

"You monster!" Naomi screamed suddenly, lifting her head. "You monsters! There are newborns in that house! THREE NEWBORN KIDS!"

Lysander and Bellatrix exchanged a look that she couldn't decipher. "Dennis…" Bellatrix took a step forward. "Maybe we should leave the otter's family alone."

"What?" snapped Dennis, turning on his sister. "Why?"

"Didn't you hear her?" Bellatrix demanded. "There are newborn kids in that house. Ly and I swore to never harm a kid."

"Well, YOU'RE not the ones harming them, are you?" Dennis snarled.

Bellatrix took a step and glared into her brother's face. "We swore never to harm a child OR let anyone ELSE harm a child so long as we could help it."

"Den." Lysander also stepped forwards. "We have Naomi. We shot Paris. We don't need to get the otter as well."

"I need to hurt Perry as much as possible," snarled Dennis. "I can't just stop with the two girls. I need everyone."

"Dennis, you don't need-!" Bellatrix began, but she was interrupted by the arrival of the last two members of their gang: a male leopard and an adolescent female sun bear.

"Leonard," sighed Dennis. "Tell me YOU have some good news for me."

Leonard the Leopard hesitated, clasping his hands together nervously. "There's kids."

"What kids?" Dennis demanded.

Leonard looked straight at Naomi and said, "Her kids."

Naomi stared at them in horror.

"Three girls," the sun bear said in glee.

"I know that, Sydney, I saw them when I got Naomi." Dennis eyed Leonard. "Three girls, hmm?"

"They're actually Perry's sister's kids," reported Leonard. "But he gave the egg containing them to Naomi to raise."

"But it will still affect Perry if they get hurt?" Dennis asked, his eyes gleaming.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY GIRLS!" Naomi screeched, kicking her feet madly. She managed to catch Dennis in the leg, causing him to yelp in pain.

"YOU-!" He swung his arm and slapped her round the face twice, then he punched her hard in the stomach.

"Dennis, stop!" cried Leonard, darting forwards, but the twins grabbed his arms and held him back.

Dennis turned sharply to face his group. "Remember your place, Leonard."

He lashed out and struck the leopard in the face. The twins let go of his arms, letting him fall to his knees, pressing his paw against his face.

"You know, you could kill everyone here if you wanted," Dennis said casually, looking down at him. "But you're just a coward. And you'll always be a coward." He looked up at his twin siblings. "You two, go help Donna with her siege."

Bellatrix and Lysander exchanged a look, seemingly having a silent conversation.

"Sure," Lysander said eventually.

The two of them turned and left the room.

"Sydney, I want you and Leonard to go get Naomi's kids."

"No," croaked Naomi, winded. "L-Leave them alone!"

Dennis ignored her. "Bring them back here, okay, Syd?"

Sydney nodded and grinned. "I got it, boss." She raced out of the room.

Leonard slowly got to his feet, scowling at Dennis, who gave him a challenging look back, asking Leonard silently if the leopard really wanted to challenge the rabbit. After a few seconds, Leonard backed down and left the room.

Dennis turned back to Naomi, who was weakly pulling on her restraints again.

"It's just you and me," Dennis grinned. "Let's see if physical trauma will bring back those trigger words, shall we?"

Naomi could only watch in horror as he advanced on her, looking like a lion about to eat a gazelle.

 _Oh, God…!_


	7. Chapter 7

"Perry, we're out of bread!" called the by-now familiar Australian voice.

Perry groaned and rolled over in his bed. In the five years he had been away from the demanding life of an O.W.C.A. agent, he had grown to love the late nights and late mornings as opposed to the late nights and early mornings. But his roommate hadn't appeared to have gotten the memo that Perry liked sleeping in.

"Yeah?" he called sleepily back. "So?"

"Could you go and get some more?"

Perry rolled his eyes. "Why can't you?"

"Come downstairs and you'll see why."

Perry groaned again. _Do I have to?_ _WHY do I have to?_ Sighing, he rolled into a sitting position, swung his legs over the side of his bed, and got up. He grabbed his bathrobe and put it on, tying it round his waist. He went downstairs and into the kitchen, freezing when he saw exactly what his roommate meant.

Everywhere Perry looked, on every surface in the kitchen except one, was _sandwiches._ Big ones, small ones, brown bread, white bread, bread rolls, fillings of all kinds. Perry blinked, before picking up an egg mayonnaise-filled one.

"I saw that," came his roommate's voice.

Perry rolled his eyes and stuffed the sandwich into his mouth. "Aussie, what IS all this?"

"City Hall is hosting a city-wide event tomorrow and they asked me to make sandwiches for it. By the way, we're out of bread."

Perry snorted. "I don't doubt it. Where ARE you?"

"By the sink."

Perry peered over a mound of sandwiches and just about managed to spot his teal-coloured roommate. "Ah, there you are."

"Yep. Could you get more bread?"

Perry sighed. "Why can't you, exactly?"

"Because I'm surrounded by a mountain of sandwiches and I'm currently making potato salad."

Perry blinked. "Why?"

Aussie shrugged. "I love potato salad."

Perry stared at the large bowl. "That's a lot of potato salad, especially for one guy."

"I was thinking of taking some along to the event too. Besides, it's not just for me. You and Steve are going to have some too."

"Steve?" Perry snorted again. "Steve is allergic to mayonnaise."

"Aww, man." Aussie sighed. "That means he can't have, like, ninety percent of this sandwiches, either."

Perry laughed. "Where IS Steve, by the way?"

"He went to get me some more cheese."

"You couldn't have asked him to get more bread too?"

"I wasn't out of bread when I asked him to go get more cheese."

"Surely you were at least low on bread by then."

"Yeah, so?"

"So you should have thought ahead."

Aussie rolled his eyes. "Please, Perry. I need bread."

Perry thought for a moment. "If you give me money for chocolate for myself, I will do it."

"Fine. There's a twenty on the counter by the door. You can use the change from the six loaves I need."

"Wow… That's a lot of bread."

"I know."

Perry scooped up the money from the counter and left the kitchen. Calling goodbye to Aussie, he left the house.

They owned a house together, along with Steve, in the suburban area of a city in Australia. Perry had no idea what the name of it was; it seemed to change so often.

It wasn't a patch on Danville, that was for sure.

It was debatable as to who Perry missed back home. For a while, it was Naomi, but he soon accepted the fact that she no longer remembered him, so then it became Paris, and it was still her to this day, though Victor and Christina were a close second. Perry longed to call home and see what was going on: did Victor and Christina have kids together? Was Naomi raising Paris's kids right? Did Paris have a new boyfriend or mate? Did _Naomi_ have a new boyfriend or mate? Was O.W.C.A. alright? Were they coping without him? Was L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. behaving themselves?

He wished he knew the answers to these questions, but he just couldn't bring himself to remind himself of the life he had left behind.

"Hey, Perry!" called a small voice suddenly, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Perry blinked and looked down at the ground, spotting the little orange lizard. "Hey, Steven. That's a big plastic bag you've got there."

"The store didn't have anything smaller," Steve said, shrugging, as he adjusted the plastic bag he was dragging. "I got three packs of cheese, two jars of mayonnaise, four jars of jam, four jars of peanut butter, and three cucumbers."

Perry burst out laughing. "Now he needs six loaves of bread, so that's what I'm going to get. I can't believe he needs so many sandwiches. Has he told you what it's all for?"

Steve shook his head.

"An event of some kind," Perry said. "One that City Hall is hosting."

"Ah." Steve grinned. "Anyway, I'd better get this inside."

"Do you need any help?" asked Perry.

Steve shook his head again. "Nah, I got it. You go and get those six loaves of bread."

Perry laughed again. "I have some extra money; do you want any chocolate or something?"

"Maybe just a Twinkie or something."

"Okay." Perry smiled at him. "See you later."

"See you, Perry."

Perry carried on walking towards the store, his thoughts again being occupied by his former life. Steve reminded him a lot of Pinky, which made him feel miserable. They were both small and didn't mind it, they both had the same optimistic attitude, they both tried to help others, and they both had a great sense of humour.

Perry exhaled deeply and glanced down at the ground.

 _I miss you, Pinky…_


End file.
